What Connects the Abrahamic Religions?

An Abrahamic religion is one in which the people can trace their faith back to Abraham, the patriarch who appears in the first book of the Bible.

Abraham (first known as Abram) was a man called by God to whom God said, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:2-3)

Abraham had no credentials, no special family history, and no relationship with God that would cause God to bless or use him in this way. God chose His man for reasons only known to Him. But because Abraham took God at His word and followed His directions, those actions were seen as faith by God, and God “credited it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). Through Abraham, God had chosen a people for Himself—a people that would glorify Him and that He would love and protect.

How Did Abraham Become the Father of Many Nations?

When God promised to bless all of the peoples of the earth through Abraham, those people needed to start with him. But Abraham was advanced in age (75), his wife Sarah was a handful of years younger, and they had no children.

After waiting more than a decade, Sarai suggested that maybe God meant for her maidservant Hagar to be a surrogate mother (why didn’t they ask God?). So when Abraham was 86, his first son Ishmael was born to Hagar (Genesis 16). Sarah became jealous of this boy who called Abraham father, but the two of them would have to wait another 13 years for the child promised by God: when Abraham was 99 years old, Isaac was born to Sarah.

Sarah believed there would be competition for her son’s inheritance, so she insisted that Hagar and the boy be sent into the wilderness. Obviously, this greatly disturbed Abraham.

“But God said to him, ‘Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring.” (Genesis 21:12-13)

An angel of God visited Hagar and Ishmael in the desert. The angel told them not to be afraid because God would make Ishmael into a great nation and be with him as he grew up.

So there we have two sons, whom God has promised to make into two different nations of people. But the younger was the one through whom all the world’s nations would be blessed (spoiler alert: Jesus would be born in this line). Therefore, three main Abrahamic religions come through these two sons, and while the religions have some things in common, they also have many differences.

What Are the Three Main Abrahamic Religions?

Most people, when thinking of religions that have Abraham as their patriarch and the God of Abraham as their God, think of Judaism (beginning with Isaac), Christianity (beginning with Christ through the line of Judaism), and Islam (through the line of Ishmael).

In her article “How Many Religions Are There?” Dr. Sandra Hamer Smith notes that experts estimate 4,000-10,000 religions worldwide, but the Abrahamic religions are the world’s three most popular.

“Christianity is the most popular religion in the world. Islam is the second-largest religion in the world. Judaism is the world’s oldest monotheistic religion going back 4,000 years.”

Christianity.com contributor Britt Mooney observes in “What Are the Abrahamic Religions?” that some smaller religions are connected to Abrahamic religions—such as the Ba’hai faith. However, these have a more tenuous connection to the historical Abraham and contradict some core ideas of the three main faiths. Therefore, this article will focus on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Why Is Christianity Considered an Abrahamic Religion?

The covenant God made with Abraham about the whole world being blessed through him would take generations to fruition.

Along the way, his descendants by Isaac became a nation of 12 tribes known as the Israelites (later as the Jews after the sub-kingdom of Judah), God’s chosen people. They were called to follow Him in unique ways; God gave them laws for living in a way that honored Him (Ten Commandments). He worked through different people to accomplish His will—first judges who ruled Israel, later kings like David and Solomon.

From Adam and Eve, God placed a high premium on keeping genealogies to show God working through people throughout history (“His story”) on earth. The most important listed genealogy in the Bible for the Christian is found at the beginning of Matthew’s gospel, (Matthew 1), in the New Testament. It starts with Abraham and ends 42 generations later at the birth of Jesus. Because Jesus was born a Jew (specifically in the family line of King David), Abraham was the patriarch who started his line.

After Jesus’ death and resurrection, those who came to believe in Him were called Christians, but whether or not they were Jews or Gentiles before they became Christians, they were still covered by the Abrahamic covenant. So, both Jews and Christians and sons and daughters of Abraham.

However, while Jews claim this relationship with Abraham, they also believe the promises that come with being Abraham’s children have yet to be fulfilled. Judaism (at least in its orthodox form) affirms the Old Testament’s prophecies about the Messiah but maintains the Messiah is still coming: he has yet to redeem the Jewish people and bring peace to the world. Christians believe that the Messiah (Jesus) has already come as Messiah and will come again in glory to create a new heavens and a new earth and judge evil.

What Common Elements Can We Confirm Across Each Abrahamic Religion?

While many things make each Abrahamic religion distinct, the following are key to each of the three:

All believe in one God. All are monotheistic religions—they believe in one God. Christians are the only ones who believe that God is triune—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

All have an opinion about Jesus. Only Christians believe that Jesus’ sacrifice for sins is sufficient for a right relationship with God.

All are exclusive. Each Abrahamic religion maintains that there is one truth and that salvation can only come from following one religion with the complete truth. This separates the Abrahamic religions from many other religions. For example, many eastern religions describe truth as something subjective and evolving that may differ for each religion without anyone being incorrect.

Each believes it is the one true faith. Because the Abrahamic faiths are exclusive, while they share key ideas about Abraham, Jesus, and other figures, they don’t believe that members of the other Abrahamic religions can achieve salvation. Jews believe they are God’s chosen people to have an exclusive relationship with God. Christians believe anyone can come to God in repentance and faith and be saved from hell to spend eternity with Him. Muslims believe that salvation comes through following Islam’s teachings and achieving good works that outweigh their sins.

Belief in angels. All three faiths believe that God created angels before humans, that they are used by/have been used by God as messengers to humans on earth, and that they are immortal and cannot sin. All three religions refer to Gabriel but don’t agree on how God used him. None of the three faiths call for angels to be worshiped above God.

All have a founder. Though Abraham is the chief founder of all three, these faiths distinguish themselves from many faiths because they each have a clear founder (Moses, Jesus, Muhammed) whose stories were written within the generation after their death. Many other religions have stories about their founders where the earliest records were written centuries later, making it hard to tell what is legend and what is historical fact.

How to Learn More about Each Abrahamic Religion

Many more differences between the Abrahamic religions have kept them at odds with each other since the time of Isaac and Ishmael. Hopefully, this article will prompt you to spend more time learning about the complexities of these faiths.

As Christians, we are to witness to the world that Jesus is the answer for everything from life to death and beyond. Knowing what we believe as Christians and what these other faiths believe equips you to have thorough and thoughtful discussions (or to know how to pray for them).

Though it may seem simplistic, I would start by looking up a table comparing the three main Abrahamic religions to see the various ways to compare them. Then, investigate the claims of each faith based on their founder, holy writings, what they say about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, their history (with proof), and more.

Meet and discuss with those of a different faith community if they are open to it. Read their holy writings and visit their holy places (if allowed). Engage people of other faiths at work or school and learn what they believe. Ask the Holy Spirit for an opportunity to talk with them about the Abrahamic religions and how Jesus is the true fulfillment of what God meant when He said that all nations would be blessed through Abraham’s lineage.

Photo Credit: © Getty Images/Ojimorena

Mary Oelerich-Meyer is a Chicago-area freelance writer and copy editor who prayed for years for a way to write about and for the Lord. She spent 20 years writing for area healthcare organizations, interviewing doctors and clinical professionals and writing more than 1,500 articles in addition to marketing collateral materials. Important work, but not what she felt called to do. She is grateful for any opportunity to share the Lord in her writing and editing, believing that life is too short to write about anything else. Previously she served as Marketing Communications Director for a large healthcare system. She holds a B.A. in International Business and Marketing from Cornell College (the original Cornell!) When not researching or writing, she loves to spend time with her writer daughter, granddaughter, rescue doggie and husband (not always in that order).